Second Chance
by Galadhwen23
Summary: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco go back in time to try and change the outcome of the war. Focuses on Harry, Draco, and Severus. NOT SLASH.
1. Whisked Away

As Draco lounged on the couch next to Hermione, watching a heated match of wizard's chess between Harry and Ron, he contemplated his life since the war for the millionth time.

One would think that the war would have faded, at least marginally, from the minds of the magical community in the four years following, but the pain was still fresh and sharp in the minds of many. The loss of Severus had affected him the most, he decided, and he suspected the same for Harry though he knew he would not admit it. Draco was hit hard by the death of his parents, but Severus had been the only one who really understood him. He had never wanted to be a Death Eater, contrary to popular opinion, and Severus had offered comfort and advice in the dark times.

After the war, he had found the Trio as the sole comfort in his life, which had faded into bleak shades of gray. Ron and Hermione, too, were newly orphaned and they, along with Harry, offered comfort with open arms after one glance at his cracked soul through his exhausted eyes.

Harry had unconsciously done a magnificent impression of Severus in front of the Wizengamot for him, and Draco was cleared of all charges. He was infinitely grateful to him. The Trio accepted him as one of them and after a while was no longer referred to as such, as Draco spent nearly every moment with them.

After a surprisingly short period of time, Draco was told the full story, and his newfound respect and brotherliness for Harry increased tenfold. Draco was ashamed about his treatment of Harry over the years and tried to apologize, but Harry hadn't wanted to hear it. That had been, using the one of the Muggle sayings Hermione had taught him, the straw that broke the camel's back. Draco had bowed his head and let forth his silent tears, and Harry came over and put an arm around his shoulders. After, the four had become inseperrable and it took very little time for the wizarding world to accept it.

Harry was offered all sorts of awards, gifts, job offers, and countless other opportunities, but he declined them all. He later confided to them that he preferred to stay out of the public eye. The four of them had bought a little flat in Muggle London, where they lived comfortably. Well, Harry and Hermione lived comfortably. It took Draco and Ron quite a while to get used to the Muggle way of living, but the house was cozy and welcoming after they had settled in. _Mother and father are probably thrashing in their grave, _Draco thought wryly as he sipped his coffee.

"CHECK!"

Harry's shout brought Draco out of his routine cynical musings. His eyes focused again, just in time to see Ron slap Harry on the arm in response to his triumphant smirk. Hermione and Draco smiled, but the smiles turned to frowns as Harry's face grew tired and worried as he turned to face them.

"I've been meaning to talk to you guys." he started, absently running his hand through his hair. "I've been thinking about the war the war more often lately, and I've realized that so many pointless deaths could be spared. I'm not going to bore you to death with the angsty, cynical thought process of mine that resulted in this," the four grinned briefly "so I'll just cut straight to the point. I've found an already modified version of a time turner, and I've tinkered with it so that it can send us back into our fourth year at Hogwarts.

Harry's words were greeted with the sort of silence inferring that the audience strongly expected –or more like hoped– someone to jump out of a corner yelling "April Fool!"

"You're yanking my wand, right? You've _got_ to be yanking my wand." Draco stuttered, who had only just managed to restrain himself from spewing coffee all over Ron. "That isn't possible! _All_ the time turners were destroyed in our fifth year! _All_ of them! And never mind the length of time; to send us back to _fifth year! _That completely defies eveything that we know about time travel!"

Harry had sat back and fixed Draco with an unreadbale stare while he burnt off his disbelief.

"Are you done now?"

"Yeah... sorry."

"I said the exact same think while I was experimenting with it, and I still don't know why it works the way it does. I the larger the knob is, though, the farther back in time you go. I've also established that this particular time turner can send you back to your own time whenever you wish if you turn the knob backwards however many time you turned it to go back. I _am_ going to use it, and I _am_ going to save innocent lives. If you don't want to come, I get it, but please don't try to stop me." Harry became very interested in the carpet whilst he waited for his best friends to speak. Ron spoke up first.

"You don't honestly think we _wouldn't_ come, do you? You're birlliant and all, mate, but you can be really thick sometimes."

Hermione was quick to follow.

"I completely agree with Ron, Harry. You're stuck with us." She gave a reassuring smile, and the three looked at Draco, who shook his head in exhasperation.

"What those two said."

The four spent the next month planning, editing, and reviewing their plan. It was, Draco decided, the most dangerous thing he had ever done, and it was probably the most any one of them had ever put on the line. They had decided to go through with everything that had happened that year, besides the tragedy at the Ministry. Draco knew it would be hard. Incredibly hard. He also knew it would be disasterous if they failed.

As Harry hung the time turner almost reverently around their necks, Draco felt the full impact of what they were about to hit him in the gut. He had to say something to his, as he thought of them now, honorary siblings before embarking on this treacherous mission.

"Guys... I just... you're... you three are like siblings to me. I just want you to know that whatever happens, its an act. Its all an act. I swear. I'll swear on my magic that it will all be an act." he said, his speech getting faster and more rambling as he went on. Hermione twisted to face him (with a bit of difficulty) and hugged him tightly.

"We know, Draco. We know.

Harry and Ron nodded, and after Harry twisted the elongated knob on the shimmering time turner, the last thing Draco saw were Harry's emerald eyes piercing him right down to his mending soul.


	2. Off to a Good Start

Harry sat in a corner of the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Hermione, trying to get his bearings. It had been a stressful day, and Harry was sure he would've gone insane if the other two hadn't been here to remind him what was at stake. He could only imagine what Draco was going though.

It was immensely discombobulating to be back inside the walls of the grand castle, and it was nearly impossible not to show it. The four of them had arrived in their respective dorms, and had used very strong glamours to make them look as they had in fifth year. Of course, with their luck, they'd had Defense first thing and had to deal with Umbridge and maintaining the hostile façade towards Draco at the same time. Harry knew no one suspected him, but couldn't help being paranoid. Just as he was about to get up and head to his dorm, he heard a soft groan from Hermione who was studying their schedule.

"Harry… we have double Potions tomorrow." Harry's heart plummeted.

'_Just what I bloody need_' he thought angrily as he threw himself back into the chair. Facing Draco would be bad enough; facing Professor Snape would be ten times worse. Harry wasn't really sure why he was so afraid of coming face to face with the man again. Maybe it was because he knew now that the Professor had protected him with his life for seven years while having to pretend to hate him. Not that _that _would be atall like a bludger to the face. '_Ten points from Gryffindor, you dunderhead! Oh, by the way, I've loved your mother for my entire life, and I don't actually hate you, it's an act, and I've sworn an oath to protect you. Ten more points from Gryffindor, imbecile!' _Harry knew now why the man acted the way he did, and thinking about the memories Snape had given to him brought tears to his eyes. Harry knew that he'd better not get a detention from the man, or the entire mission would be ruined. Without a doubt, if he was alone with that sarcastic tongue being aimed at him, his mask would crumble. The four had agreed that, even when they were alone, they would not let the bitterness and pain show through in their eyes like it usually did.

"Oh no." he finally murmured, causing Ron and Hermione shot him sympathetic looks. Harry turned towards them, his agitation growing rapidly. "How will I manage? How will I ever succeed in keeping my mask up around him? He's impossible to lie to, Hermione." Harry added as she started to reassure him. "If anyone's going to notice a difference in the four of us, it'll be him." Hermione looked thoughtful, and Ron looked troubled.

"Well, mate, when he starts, err, insulting you like he has to it'll probably be easier to keep up the act. It used to make you really angry." Ron said hesitantly, seeming to fear Harry's reaction. Harry nodded slowly, but he knew both Ron and Hermione could tell he didn't mean it.

"I'm going to bed," he said wearily, "because I'm going to need a bloody LOT of sleep to deal with tomorrow.

HPHPHP

Harry was woken by the sound of rustling, and after such a long time on the run, even now the unknown intruder found themselves with a wand pointed into their face.

"Whoa, Harry. It's just me." Ron said warily, and Harry flushed a little as he lowered his wand back to his side. As Harry swung his legs out of bed and shuffled tiredly over to his trunk, he vividly recalled his usual nightmare.

_Harry's scar throbbed unbearably as a black cloaked figure glided towards him, silvery blood dripping down his front._

_Terror shot through him as he stared into Tom Riddle's face, who was idly twirling Harry's wand between his fingers_

_He was lying at the foot of a gravestone, a thousand white-hot knives ripping at his skin._

_He was watching Sirius's body curve through the veil, struggling uselessly against the arms that held him._

_He was staring up, horrified, as Dumbledore's body seem to hang in front of a ghastly illusion that lit up the sky, the symbol of death._

_He was listening to Dobby's last words as the little elf passed into another world, a knife protruding from his little chest._

_He was staring down at Snape, horrified and shocked, as his Professor told him that he had his mother's eyes. _

_He and Voldemort were prowling in a circle as past-Harry told Voldemort that Snape was Dumbledore's, while the smiling face of his mother danced behind his eyelids…_

Harry realized that his body was, as was usual after having this nightmare of flashbacks, covered in a cold sweat. He saw Ron shoot him a glance, but Ron knew better than to ask him what was wrong; everyone from the war still had nightmares though Harry doubted any were quite like his.

"Hey Harry, what wrong mate? You seem pretty tired these past two days." Seamus asked with a frown, but Harry forced a smile for him. He hadn't liked the animosity between himself and Seamus that had sprung up in fifth year, and had resolved any misunderstandings with his house last night.

"'M fine, Seamus. I'm always tired." Harry joked weakly. It sounded utterly flimsy to his ears, but it seemed to satisfy Seamus who grinned at him and bounded off to the bathroom.

Harry yawned and stretched, still not accustomed to his new small, short body, and dug around for some of Dudley's old clothes in his trunk. As he noticed a particularly large, ratty old T-shirt, his lip curled in disgust. He had gotten used to wearing clothes that were actually his size, thank you very much, and switching back to these was dredging up old memories.

He and Ron met Hermione down in the Common Room twenty minutes later, and began discussing in low voices the plan for today. Hermione was especially stressed; it looked like what Harry had pointed out last night had struck a chord with her.

"All right, so we've got double Potions first thing, which we already... discussed. Then we've got Defense, ugh. Harry you _need_ to keep your temper around that toad, do you really want that horrible scar from the blood quill? After that we've got Transfiguration, which shouldn't be a problem as long as we avoid Dra—Malfoy. Then we have Charms, no problem, and finally Care of Magical Creatures. So all we've really got to worry about is Potions and Defense."

Harry almost told her that her bloody annoying rambling was doing nothing to help his headache, but decided he wanted to keep everything attached.

As they made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast they didn't run into Umbridge, Draco, or Snape, which was a miracle in itself. Harry was immensely relieved, but as usual, the peace didn't last. He hadn't even time to start on his food before Umbridge stepped up to the podium in front of the staff table, her bulging eyes gleeful.

"Here it comes." Harry muttered to Ron.

"Hem, hem."

Harry had a sudden strong urge to bang his head against the table, but managed to resist.

This time the "hem hem" came a bit louder, and Harry only just managed to restrain himself.

"I would like to announce that I have been promoted to Hogwarts' High Inquisitor. There will be new rules and regulations, but expect us all to get along very well."

The sickly sweet voice made his blood boil; images of the blood quill, Dumbledore's Army, Marietta, and Umbridge's gleeful face as she attempted to cast the Cruciatus on him rushed through his mind. Followed by the image of a Centaur, which brightened him up considerably, and he finally heard past the ringing in the ears to catch the last bit of the toad's speech.

"…all of these will be posted on the wall outside the Great Hall. Have a wonderful, wonderful day." Ron turned to Harry, his face sickened.

"I don't know about you, Harry, but I think 'wonderful' is a bit of an overstatement."

"Just a _bit_, Ron?"

"Fair point."

"You know, I think I might just give a little help to the twins this year…"

"Count me in!"

"Honestly, you two, we came here to— this isn't about revenge!"

"Of course it isn't, 'Mione! We're just, say, _adding _a bit of revenge to the mix!"

"Really, Ronald? '_Mione?_"

"Well… you needed a nickname!"

"Sorry, '_Mione_, Ron's right. You're stuck with it."

Hermione smiled a little, shaking her head ruefully.

"What would I do without you thr— two?"

As Harry made his way out of the Great Hall with Ron and Hermione in tow, they passed an uncomfortable looking Draco. As their eyes met, Draco sneered, but Harry flashed him an understanding look that made Draco grin. As they walked away, Pansy Parkinson's annoyingly shrill voice floated up to them.

"Draco, what are you smirking about?"

"What? Oh, I was just… imagining different, fun-filled ways I could slowly and painfully kill Potter." Harry, Hermione and Ron had to duck in to an adjacent hallway to roll around on the floor laughing. As they trooped off to Potions, Harry realized he had left his bag in the side hallway and dashed off to get it, telling Ron and Hermione not to wait for him.

Harry arrived in the dungeons panting and sweaty, having run all the way here from nearly halfway across the school. He tried to open the door quietly, to no avail; the usual horrible creaking alerted the entire class. Snape's head snapped up, his eyes cold and hard, boring into Harry's. Harry almost threw up his shields, but caught himself just in time and ducked his head. Snape hadn't started teaching him yet; fifth year Harry hadn't even known what Occlumency was, and no 15 year-old could dream of having shields this strong.

"You are late, Mr. Potter. 30 points from Gryffindor. Look at me when I'm speaking, boy!"

The day was off to a good start.


End file.
